In efforts to get our racers 3 rounds of qualifying for a Saturday event we will be starting our qualifying 30 minutes earlier. Jr Dragster qualifying will now begin at 1:30 pm and all pro classes at 5:00 pm. Currently, our 5:30 pm start time, with a 1 hour per round average pushes the end of round 2 near 7:30 pm with no problems. A 3rd round normally results in 9:00 pm start time and a midnight to 1am final. With our raceway being managed by the County of Maui Parks Department, VITA must make every effort follow County rules for park closures which is 11:00 pm. In the past, we at MRP have been fortunate that the curfew has never been enforced allowing us to run till we were done. As users of the park the last thing we want is the County coming up with noise regulations like so many race tracks across the United States or locking the gate at 11:00 pm because of noise complaints. With development now getting closer to our track, we’ll now need to better neighbors and more considerate to the new communities being built around us so getting done at a reasonable hour is very important.

Please keep in mind the earlier start time will not guarantee us 3 rounds. It will just aid in getting us there. The Board will use 8:00 pm as the target time to end qualifying. If rounds drag, oil downs/breakage occur or we have large fields, the qualifying rounds will be shortened to 2. These start times will be used for the remainder of 2010 and will be evaluated and discussed for 2011 season.

Test and tune:
In order to start our program at 5:00 pm. Test and tune will end at 4:30 pm sharp. There will be no exceptions. Racers that need the runs should be there early to take advantage of the session. The Jr Dragster program will run thru T&T and will have priority once they are called up. The pair at the line at 4:30 will be the last pair down the track. The 30 minutes between T&T and qualifying will be for track prep and our Jr dragster program eliminations.

Registration:
Please get your vehicle inspected and registered ASAP. Last month’s Friday event had only 20 entries at 5:00 pm causing us to wait to begin qualifying even though the park was full of racers. We had a last minute rush to get people thru tech and registration to begin qualifying.

Friday Night Racing:
With most of our racers and track workers having to work on Fridays qualifying will be only 2 rounds. If time permits a 3rd round will be added. An early start time is not an option at this time due to lack of track personnel to run the event. Friday night racing will be a topic at our next general membership meeting to plan the 2011 season.